Veterans are a few steps closer to receiving healthcare at the future Veterans Affairs Puget Sound community-based outpatient clinic in Silverdale.

Veterans Plaza LLC, the company that will construct the new clinic at 9177 Ridgetop Boulevard, filed building permits with Kitsap County on Friday. Architecture firm Rice Fergus Miller released a design rendering of the clinic.

"The development and design teams have really tried to design a facility that is both functional and striking," said Mike Brown, partner with Veterans Plaza LLC. "We are not just building a box that houses clinic functions, but rather a well-designed, aesthetically pleasing structure that all can be proud of and that will serve our veterans well in the years to come."

The almost 15,000-square-foot, one-story clinic will have a large lobby space with big windows, a covered drop-off area and a parking lot of more than 90 spots.

About 75 percent of the clinic's design has been completed, with all of the major pieces in place.

"It's a very complete drawing," Brown said. "The building, the walls, room locations are finished."

The remaining elements are "really, really small minutiae," such as determining the elevation of electrical outlets and the locations of paper towel dispensers, Brown said.

Once those remaining pieces have been hammered out, Brown estimated it would take about a month for the VA to review the final details.

From there, he estimated his construction company, FPH Construction, would be breaking ground at the construction site sometime in April.

If all goes according to plan, the clinic could be opening its doors as soon as May 2019, Brown said.

U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-Gig Harbor, a long-time proponent of the new clinic, was enthusiastic about the progress made toward opening the new clinic.

"Today, we are one step closer to a reality where local veterans will be able to get the care they deserve quickly, comprehensively, and efficiently," Kilmer said.

Kitsap County Commissioner Ed Wolfe attributed the progress to the collaborative efforts of Veterans Plaza LLC, architecture firm Rice Fergus Miller, the county and Kilmer.

"We're working together to ensure Olympic Peninsula veterans, including 38,000 residing in Kitsap, will not have to travel to Seattle or Federal Way for healthcare services they wholeheartedly desire," Wolfe said.

For the past few years, Puget Sound VA has been seeking a way to alleviate the backlog and long wait times at the existing 6,000-square-foot VA clinic in Bremerton at 925 Adele Ave.

A plan to open a new clinic in Bremerton fell through in 2017 when the VA terminated a lease for the old Rite Aid pharmacy at 4205 Kitsap Way in the Oyster Bay Shopping Center after it was discovered the building wasn't up to seismic standards. That site had been selected as the site of a future VA clinic at the end of a long selection process in 2015.

In the interim, the VA will open a temporary administrative office in East Bremerton. The 3,500-square-foot office space will be located in the second story of an existing medical complex at 2771 Hemlock St.

The office is scheduled to undergo final inspection of its tenant improvements at the end of the month and is estimated to begin providing services on March 1.

Telehealth services and certain administrative functions will relocate to the temporary offices to open up more clinical space for patients at the existing VA clinic.